Police Warrant of Operation
Ali-jo made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
The request was partially successful.
From: Ali-jo
Dear New Zealand Police,
1. Can you please confirm that pursuant to the Policing Act 2008 that police have a warrant of operation authorised by the Commissioner of Police?
2. Can you please confirm that Police have a warrant of operation to act as a policy inforcer on behalf on the Land Transport Agency?
3. Do police carry these warrant of operations on them whilst acting as a police officer, to be shown on request for authenticity?
4. Can police stop an automobile with private license plates and confiscate the plates? If yes, please provide the legislation to support this claim.
5. Can Police identify an IMEI number of a phone who sent a message remotely without having to inspect that phone?
6. Can this be done by inspecting the recipients phone only?
7. Is this done by requesting an audit?
Thank you
Yours faithfully,
Ali-jo
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe Ali-jo
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request below.
Your reference number is IR-01-23-30901.
You can expect a response to your request on or before 26 October unless an extension is needed.
Ngā mihi,
McCoy
Ministerial Services - Police National Headquarters
show quoted sections
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe Ali-Jo
Please find attached the response relating to your Official Information
Act request, received by Police on 27 October 2023.
Ngā mihi
Lisa
Ministerial Services
Police National Headquarters
===============================================================
WARNING
The information contained in this email message is intended for the
addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be
subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which
creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you
are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this
message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this
message or any of its contents.
Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect
those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this message in
error, please email or telephone the sender immediately
From: Ali-jo
Dear Ministerial Services,
As i do not believe the information given is correct i will be asking the Ombudsman to investigate your response.
Thank you
In honour and good faith
Ali-jo
From: Ali-jo
Dear Ministerial Services,
Thank you for your reply to my request for information.
in relation to my questions pursuant to the Policing Act 2008
Section 24 Authorised officers
(1) The Commissioner may, by warrant, authorise a Police employee in either or both of the following ways:
(a) authorise the employee to exercise any particular power of a constable under any enactment other than this Act, except the power to arrest or search any person:
(b) authorise the employee to perform 1 or more particular policing roles set out in Schedule 1.
(2) Before authorising a Police employee under subsection (1), the Commissioner must be satisfied that the person is—
(a) adequately trained to exercise the power to be conferred or the role to be performed, or both, as the case may be; and
(b) capable of exercising that power or carrying out the role, or both, as the case may be.
(3) The Commissioner may at any time, by written notice to a person authorised under subsection (1), withdraw the authorisation by withdrawing the warrant.
Schedule 1
Part 1 - A Police employee warranted as a Police jailer
Part 2 - A Police employee warranted as a Police guard
Part 3 - A Police employee warranted as a Police specialist crime investigator
Part 4 - A Police employee warranted as a Police transport enforcement officer
Additionally under the LTA 1998
s113 (1) Enforcement officers may enforce transport legislation
(1) An enforcement officer in uniform or in possession of a warrant or other evidence of his or her authority as an enforcement officer
s 25 Powers conferred on Police employee authorised to perform policing role
A Police employee authorised under section 24(1)(b) to perform a policing role has the powers specified in Schedule 1 in relation to that role.
Con you confirm "Do Police need to carry and produce on request their warrant of operation to confirm they have authorisation as per sections of the Policing Act above"?
Thank you
Yours sincerely,
Ali-jo
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Dear Ali-jo
As previously advised, there is no requirement that police officers have a "warrant of operation."
A member of New Zealand Police is identifiable by their unique identifier, known as QID. A QID contains a mixture of letters and numbers that is associated with that individual. For uniformed members, this is displayed on their epaulettes. Some Acts set out when and how police need to identify themselves in context-specific situations. For example, section 121 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 (which contains a power to stop vehicles with or without a warrant for the purposes of search), provides that a person who exercises a power under that section must, on the request of a person affected by the exercise of the power (among other things): identify themselves either by name or by unique identifier.
The New Zealand Police Manual comprises all instructions and guidance in chapters for administrative and operational aspects of policing, including nationally consistent standard operating principles, practices, policies, and procedures (referred to broadly as ‘policy’). The chapter that is relevant to your request is Uniform, Dress Standards, and Appearance. Page 46 of the chapter is specifically about identification and can be found here: https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publ...
Regards,
Lisa
Ministerial Services
show quoted sections
From: Ali-jo
Dear Ministerial Services,
Thank you for your reply, but your reply is not in accordance with the Policing Act 2008 and LTA 1998 where it states police are required to be in possession of a warrant.
Is it true that Police need to be authorised ie warranted to carry out specific roles?
And that warrant needs to be authorised by the Commissioner of Police?
If so your response is inconsistent with legislation:
eg. Pursuant to the LTA 1998
s113 (1) Enforcement officers may enforce transport legislation
(1) An enforcement officer in uniform or in possession of a warrant or other evidence of his or her authority as an enforcement officer
Yours sincerely,
Ali-jo
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Kia ora Ali-jo
As previously advised is our response of 17 October (attached again for your convenience), a police employee becomes a constable by taking the constable's oath. That response also advised that all constables are “enforcement officers” under section 2 of the Land Transport Act 1998 (the LTA):
enforcement officer means—
(a) a constable:
(b) a Police employee who is not a constable who is authorised for the purpose by the Commissioner:
(c) a person who is appointed to that office by warrant under section 208 or who holds that office by virtue of this Act:
(d) the Agency, in the circumstances set out in section 208A
Section 113 (1) of the LTA states that an enforcement officer meeting one of three possible conditions may enforce the provisions of the specified Acts, including associated regulations, rules and bylaws. Those conditions are, that the enforcement officer is:
• In uniform; or
• In possession of a warrant; or
• In possession of other evidence of his or her authority an enforcement officer.
A police constable in uniform, or with their Police issued identity card (issued under s 96 of the Policing Act), would therefore not require a warrant.
Kind regards
Lisa
Ministerial Services
show quoted sections
Ali-jo left an annotation ()
Police reply's are ambiguous and avoid answering the question directly
From: Ali-jo
Dear Ministerial Services,
The replies from Police are ambiguous, can you please provide constitutional evidence that officers are constitutional according to the ratification of the government under Labour leader Lange in 1986
Yours sincerely,
Ali-jo
Yours sincerely,
Ali-jo
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request
M Bell left an annotation ()
Be interesting what the outcome of the ombudsman investigation is, and am also very interested as to which parts of the response you thought were not correctly answered. Thanks.
Link to this